The Strangers' Meeting
by LoneTraveller
Summary: Uchiha Itachi is a conflicted Ninja, living in a conflicted continent; the Elemental Nations.  Signum is a suffering Knight of Belka, burnt by the harsh fires of war in the continent of Al Hazard.  They will meet... and their story begins. AU
1. Their Meeting

_From The Author: Hello. This was like all my other works, borne from whacky Idea bunnies bouncing in my brain and whispering in my ears. Further, thanks go out to Nitramy and Martong for their gracious_ help and support. I hope you all will enjoy this three-part series. Now Onwards!

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_**Their Meeting**_

"_INCOMING!" Screamed a scout in the distance, forcing a heavily armored troop column to grind its advance to a halt. Before them, a blinding glow of white appeared over the mountain pass they were supposed to cross, and came barreling towards them._

"_Retreat! NOW!" Roared the commander- a female hefting a viscous sword- at the front of the column, realizing what the light was with a terrifying wrench in her gut._

"_TOO LATE!" as the massive streak of pure destruction reached them._

_BOOM..._

Konoha is the ninja village of Fire Country and the most powerful military force in the Elemental continent. Known for producing many a fine and feared shinobi, their success has been attributed to 'The Will of Fire'; a way of life that teaches its followers to value each other and to protect the future with their all.

The village was not always in the best of positions however. It went through three Great Shinobi Wars with terrible casualties, due to the fact that it was the target of conquest for all the other major powers of the region; Iwa, Kiri, Kumo and Suna.

Victory had come at heavy prices too. The loss of the Nidaime Hokage- their dearly beloved leader- in the Second Great War was one such example.

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage who was arguably the greatest of Konoha's rulers, along with nearly a quarter of the active forces sacrificed their own lives to defeat the raging Kyuubi, which had threatened to level Konoha.

Still, not all hope was lost. Many bright new talents were rising up to face the challenges that the modern world threw at them.

One such up and coming star was Uchiha Itachi, the youngest person in all of Konoha's history to be promoted to the ranks of the Assassination Squads, also known as ANBU. Also, as an ANBU Captain at age thirteen, his Clan had never been more proud of their prodigy of a son, who was on a firm course towards becoming one of Konoha's legendary ninjas.

But the one person who was not happy about the chain of events was Uchiha Itachi himself, for he knew the whole truth about his own phenomenal rise to power. He personally knew that although he was strong, he technically did not possess the experience to gain such a title.

Danzo and the two advisers to the aging reinstated Sandaime Hokage had pulled a few strings to give Itachi the perfect position; to spy on his family.

As a highly ranked officer in Konoha's military, Itachi was instantly granted access to the meetings of the Uchiha Clan elders, where the he would have to report any form of activity that was even remotely treacherous to the Council Elders.

The Uchiha Prodigy felt torn inside, constantly having to contemplate on whether he would be able to continue following his orders to betray his very own kin. Itachi also feared that if his parents and the Clan leaders were indeed planning a coup, as suspected by many of the Council, he would be given the orders to start a massacre.

People often lost sight of how fragile and emotional Itachi could actually be, even his closest friends and relatives. Being forced to put up a facade, a ruthless and indifferent mask of a murderer, Uchiha was slowly losing himself to his own persona no matter how much he tried to deny it himself.

_Focus. _Scolded Itachi's more militaristic and tense part of his brain. _We must find out what happened to this training ground where we were supposed to spend our vacation!_ The ANBU captain briefly wondered if he should consider consulting one of the medic-ninja. He had just been conversing with himself as though he were a madman.

_No matter, _Itachi told himself, _I can see a medic later... this is far more important._

ANBU captain Uchiha Itachi had walked into his favorite training field for a break, only to find it covered in what looked nauseatingly like roasted human parts all over the grounds. And that was not the worst of it.

Blood... the metallic and cloying smell of life fluid riddled the air oppressively as the teen trudged wearily through what looked like a battlefield. His favorite spot was most certainly ruined.

_But what was the point of this skirmish... or was there a battle begin with?_ The young assassin wondered. It was an impossible task, trying to comprehend how so much blood- likely from a great deal of people- could have been spilled in this tiny field.

He squatted daintily in the middle of a blood pond, and dipped his fingers into the sticky liquid before withdrawing said digit to inspect the blood. _Hmm... judging from the residue chakra... there's the blood of at least ten different people; all civilians- no... their chakras' are a bit 'off'. Strange... perhaps they were-! Someone's spying..._ Itachi's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

In the cover of a bush directly behind the teen, a pair of desperate eyes gazed upon its intended prey.

A tingling over his spine jolted Itachi into action, sending him leaping from his current position to the nearest tree.

There was a cry of, "_Shiden Issen__!_" and a sword, aflame in violet light crossed the space he had been at an instant before.

He took note of the fact that he had not only failed to detect his opponent, but the enemy was apparently fast enough to take off a lock of his hair in that attack. _She's strong and dangerous... an enemy ninja? Was this set-up a trap?_

But before he could even make a single hand-seal for his trademark Grand Fireball Jutsu, the girl had keeled over onto the ground in a dead faint, her sword, mysteriously disappearing in a flash of purple light.

Activating his bloodline limit, the Sharingan, he quickly determined that the girl was not using a Genjutsu, or playing dead. Her chakra signature indicated that she was dangerously close to death and had probably thrown everything into the previous attack.

On closer inspection, the teen -who was probably just about as old as himself- had a broken shin bone, second-degree burns over every inch of exposed skin on her right arm, various lacerations all over her abused body and what looked like severe dehydration, judging from the deep bleeding cracks on her lips where the skin had begun to liquefy.

_She's not a ninja... her Chakra system is enough proof of that, even if her foreign clothes were insufficient e__vidence._ Uchiha Itachi made his decision in a split second, and leaped to the wounded girl's side, taking her as gently as he could into his arms, _The Hokage... and I will need some answers from this one._

Without further pause, the young ANBU captain took off for Konoha General Hospital, where he would hand the stranger over to stunned nurses and make an urgent report to the Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage known as the Professor to both friend and foe, had rushed over to the said hospital with Itachi, but not before summoning his best mind-reader from the Torture-and-Interrogations Department. Sure, it was almost lunch break for that particular department, but orders were orders. It did not stop the poor chap who had been summoned from being in a foul mood however.

A recipe for trouble.

Yamanaka Inoichi -the annoyed fellow in question- had been thinking about spending the afternoon with his lovely wife and 'baby' daughter. Given the current state of things however, he very much doubted he would have the chance to even have lunch. Silently, he promised himself that the idiot ninja who had been stupid enough to break into Konoha at this time would become a vegetable.

Forgetting his manners in his anger, Inoichi grunted a greeting to his boss (the Third Hokage) and his-technically-superior-in-rank-only-since-I'm-older-and-have-more-experience colleague (Uchiha Itachi), before jumping right to the point, "Whose mind do you want me to suck dry?"

"She's in this ward, 505." Itachi gestured to a heavy steel door in the corridor they were standing in, "But you'll need- Inoichi-san?"

In a bad mood and starting to feel the pangs of hunger, the blond Jounin mind-reader simply went up to the door, slammed it open, and marched up to the girl. Before the Third Hokage could even hold him off and tell him that he needed to be gentle -since the stranger was wounded- Inoichi had performed his technique.

The blond interrogator went in hard and fast, taking in anything he could find, which from the very beginning was already very strange to him:

Inoichi was looking at a little mansion full of smiling, laughing children barely out of their nappies... One sandy blond... another was a brown head... a newborn with a tiny tuft of reddish orange hair... a blue dog of all things... someone called out in a semi-frustrated tone, "Yagami! Signum! Please come here!" and Inoichi found his vision being jerked around to see a smiling yellow blond girl holding onto brown haired girl and standing behind a woman with bright pink hair.

So the girl's name was Signum. Yagami Signum.

_Flash_

There were screams... and gurgles of the dying too... but over the din, one sentence was easily caught, "Mid-Childa's attacking! Where in heaven's name are the Belkan Knights da- Wait! NO- _hurk_!"

_Flash_

Majestic plains and hills, with trees that he had never seen before were littered with corpses... _tens of thousands _of them. Many of the dead bore similar military uniforms of blues, greens or browns, each bearing the same coat of arms on their left sleeves. Some others though, were garbed in heavy metallic armors that were of a riot of colors, their right breast plates, emblazoned with a simple bronze cross.

Clearly there were two sides in the conflict.

Great rivers that had once fed the quaint little part of the world were now stained crimson, poisoning all that received sustenance from it.

In the distance, the little mansion he saw earlier was little more than a blackened and broken wreck.

_Flash_

Magnificent cities came into view. Many of them easily twice the size of Konoha at least and made of a strange but tough looking ceramic.

But some of these great settlements looked wrong... they were afire, casting so much smoke and soot skyward that the sun's rays could not reach the ground.

_Flash_

Finally, he saw some action... he was standing right in the thick of a monstrous battlefield stretching nearly as far as his eye could see. Overhead, two hulking mechanical constructions of war rained misery and death upon the ground and on each other.

On the opposite end of the battle from Inoichi's viewpoint, was a bulky looking vessel that looked as though it were made of blocks and cylinders. It was slightly under two hundred meters long, but still it seemed to shrug off the grasp of gravity with ease. The ship on his side of the conflict, in stark contrast, was a sleek, dagger shaped monolith that dwarfed its enemy twice over and loosed countless beams of light.

Receiving no less than a hundred strikes of light beams from its foe, the enemy ship made of blocks listed to port, on an almost graceful fall towards the earth, with its entire prow ablaze. Immediately, the uniformed soldiers began to flee haphazardly.

"Hunt all these Mid-Childan dogs down!" Inoichi found Signum's hand reaching up to the heavens, with a sword swathed in purple fire, held tightly in her hand, "FOR BELKA!"

Roaring in assent, Inoichi's vision blurred slightly as Signum rushed forward with her compatriots to massacre their Mid-Childan foes.

_Flash_

"General Nakajima said the enemy might have a new weapon that could rival our Cradle warships." Whispered a poker faced, brown-haired knight, "Don't you find that worrying, Commander Yagami?"

From her vantage point at the front of the advancing Belkan column, Signum shot back a terse reply, "Leave that reported 'Arc'en'ciel' weapon of the Mid-Childans to the Army's scientists to worry about. We're here to fight."

Suddenly, a panicked shout was heard in the distance, "INCOMING!" It was a scout that had been sent up to the fronts just moments before.

Inoichi could see the same things that Signum was seeing, and he nearly lost all bowel control. It was a gargantuan beam of light, so large that it looked more like a wave than a ray, and it was headed right for them.

Signum was shouting at the top of her lungs, "RETREAT! NOW!" Trying desperately to move her men out of the impact zone.

But the pained and forlorn cry of her aide, who looked anything but poker-faced, summed up the futility of her efforts, "TOO LATE!"

Even though it was just a vision of the Belkan's memories, Inoichi could feel the intense pain, not just from the heat and force of the Arc'en'ciel blast, but from the pain of seeing so many companions suddenly just burst into clouds of blood and gore all around as they failed to shield themselves in time.

The hastily erected protection- a shimmering cage of energy- which Signum had created was also starting to show massive cracks from the strain. It would not hold out long enough to wait out the storm of fire from the Mid-Childans.

"Can't let a girl like the commander die." Came a soft, half teasing, half sorrowful whisper from behind. A bloodied, burned, but firm hand grasped Signum's shoulders.

The Belkan glanced back to see her aide and the soldiers she had managed to save- a mere group of twenty out of a hundred- pouring energy that seemed to originate from themselves into a glowing triangular rune of sorts.

"Wa- NO!" Signum wailed, losing all composure as she tried to stop her men.

Chains sprouted up from the rune and latched themselves onto her, dragging her into its center and out of the dimensional plane.

Through her anguished cries, the aide managed a final whisper, hauntingly clear over the roar of fire, "It was an honor, Commander..."

Inoichi's vision went white, and for a moment, he just floated there, in the unconsciousness of this soldier's- Signum's- mind, trying to make sense of what he had just been witness to.

It was incredible... It was war on a scale that the Elemental Nations had never seen before... Or been cursed with before, and terrified even a seasoned Ninja like Inoichi out of his wits. Were these terrible Mid-Childans, seen invading Belka, going to target the Elemental Nations soon?

Would their future generations be subject to such a terrifying and apocalyptic end as the one Signum's men had faced? To be completely erased from existence, with your very bones burned to ashes? The Great Ninja Wars had been brutal, but they were nowhere near the scale of what he had seen.

Only three hundred thousand had died in the last Great War... Inoichi shuddered at a memory of Signum's revealing the death toll for the Belkans to be in excess of one _million_, with the numbers climbing inexorably upwards each day.

Then...

"GET OUT." A disembodied and feral voice growled threateningly, and Inoichi suddenly felt himself flying back to the realm of consciousness.

The first thing he woke up to was a fist to the face, courtesy of a miraculously awake and very strung Signum.

Yamanaka Inoichi found himself embedded in the wall of the corridor, admiring a hole in the wall of ward 505, which was shaped exactly like him. _Ah shit... that's going __to leave a big bruise on my back... not to mention the Hokage'll probably charge me for the damage in property._

"HOW DARE YOU!" Signum roared in rage as she moved to inflict greater harm on her mental assailant.

She never even got the chance to take a step from her bed as Itachi slammed her back down with enough force to cause her to spit out a wad of blood on reflex, as her throat inflammation acted up again.

"You will stay put _Invader_." Itachi growled menacingly, his right hand taking hold of a Kunai, which he brought up to her throat.

Signum sneered, grinding out a scathing reply even through her badly abused throat, "Just kill me you damned Mid-Childan dog. You'll never find anything out from me."

The Third, who had been considering whether he would need to step in, finally spoke up, "I would like for you to refrain from hurling curses or what-not at my ninja madam. And if it helps, I am Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage- or rather the leader- of this village known as Konoha. I can safely say that we have nothing at all to do with this conflict between your nation and these Mid-Childans."

Inoichi piped in timidly, praying to the heavens that he would not incur their wrath, "Commander Yagami, I... I apologize for reading your mind, but we needed to learn how and why you ended up here-"

The trio winced at the wild shout from Signum, "Enough with your damned nonsense! This bloody charade! You've _murdered _my men. You've taken half of Belka's lands. I've had enough of your games! Just finish me off!"

"But you don't want to die." Itachi murmured softly, almost as if to himself.

The wards occupants, plus the poor injured Jounin stuck in a wall jerked their heads in the ANBU captain's direction in surprise.

Sarutobi Hiruzen for one had never heard Itachi speak in such a gentle tone.

Inoichi had simply never ever heard of _the _Itachi speak on the subject of death.

But to Signum, those six little words were reverberating over and over in her head like a chant, mocking her very existence.

"Wh... wh... wha-?" Signum failed to hold in the gasp that escaped her throat as the stare Itachi had fixed her with.

"If you'd wanted to die so much, you would have slit your own throat on my Kunai already." Itachi, having forgotten all about his fellow ninja, continued on bitterly, "I've killed and nearly been killed more times than I care to remember. I've lost more companions than most other ninja... and I remember every single one of their names... _do you know why?_"

With a jolt, the Third Hokage and Inoichi suddenly realized that Itachi had just unknowingly laid himself bare to an unknown. Was it because he saw something in her that was similar to his own rather dark life?

"Itachi..." The Third called out warningly, hoping that the unstable boy was not going to reveal any of Konoha's secrets.

"My comrades were soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Konoha's peace. They died so that I could live another day, in the hope that I would never have to raise a weapon again..." Itachi's left hand clenched into a fist so tight, that he drew blood as his trimmed nails punctured his callused palm, "I will _not_ spit on their memory by dying... but would you shame your comrades' memories?"

Signum was many things; a decorated Knight of the Belkan Army, the youngest ever Wolkenritter to attain the rank of commander at the age of thirteen, the Matriarch of the Legendary Yagami Family... But she was still only a human.

The Wolkenritters lips trembled, "I... _I..._" _Vincent... Anna... Valka... Johann... Scheizer... _All the names and experiences she had ever shared with her squad-mates... her men, suddenly rose from the depths of her mind.

"_Wow... I wish I could be as strong as you Siggy" That was her partner at the Academy... Ingrid... she died shielding a General from a sniper attack... merely a week after graduating._

"_Ah... __you're__ the great prodigy of our Army... Well don't worry, we're all equals here!" Johann, her aide had given her a hearty slap on the back and a steaming cup of coffee the first day she arrived to take command... and they all died so quickly to one hellish blaze of fire from the Mid-Childans..._

In retrospect, Signum knew she could not kill herself. It would mean all that her friends... her comrades had done would have come to naught. But she could not very well just keep silent over the injustices handed to her fallen companions. She was not willing to simply allow fate to wipe the existence of so many brave souls quietly away.

The only solution then, reasoned her stressed mind, was to let her anguish all out.

After having buried her emotions under countless layers of cold professionalism and military discipline, Signum came apart at the seams as she burst into uncontrolled sobs, her grief, bottled and contained for over half a decade, pouring out in an unstoppable tidal wave of emotions.

Sensing the woman's pain, Itachi gently withdrew his weapon, certain that she would no longer put up a fight. He was greatly surprised when Signum flung her arms around him, and he nearly took out his Kunai yet again.

That was till he realized that the Wolkenritter was using him as a support, whilst she bled out every last bit of remorse, guilt and rage from her system.

For a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Yamanaka Inoichi simply stared at the weirdest scene they would probably come across in their entire lives; that of Uchiha Itachi embracing a woman and a stranger from foreign lands no less, in a comforting manner.

Itachi himself, barely even registered wrapping his own hands round Signum, as though his body, having instinctively sensed another person who had suffered as much as he did, was trying to ease his own sufferings. As if his own pain could leave him by letting it flow through the wounded Knight.

Even without a Sharingan or a Byakugan, the Third Hokage could tell when some people needed some alone time. And even though he knew that it was a risk, leaving his ANBU captain with this unknown quantity, the aged man knew from his gut feelings and experience that he should leave the pair alone for a while.

Sighing inaudibly, Sarutobi Hiruzen reached into his pocket for his smoking pipe, speaking in gravelly tones as he made his way towards the ward doors, "Report to me tomorrow at 0800 sharp Itachi... Get yourself out of the wall Inoichi. You'll be paying for the damages too."

Ignoring the pain grunts and complaints from the blond Jounin, the Third Hokage swept out of the room wordlessly, but not before he made a small earth wall to patch up the Inoichi-made holes. Sneaking a glance into the ward, Inoichi made a small bow in apology, even though he knew the woman would not see it in her current state.

"You will call a doctor to check on this Miss Signum's wounds two hours from now, and I expect you to be in my office in hour to give the council and myself a full report on your findings. I expect the payments for your reckless actions by then as well." Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed his man with a look of absolute disappointment, and disappeared in a Sunshin Jutsu.

_I've made a good fool out of myself... Damn._ Inoichi had half a mind to slam his own head into a fresh stretch of wall, but decided against it. He did not want to have to pay for more damages. Sighing, Inoichi slouched off to find a nurse, and a medic-ninja who could give him a salve for his aching back _I'm not getting any younger._

Inside ward 505, Itachi had a sudden realization that he was hugging a complete stranger. Judging from the way the woman's sobs were quieting and her body was tensing, she had realized it too.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. ANBU captain of Konohagakure no Sato, one of the Five Powers of the Elemental Continent." Whispered Itachi, nearly wincing at the lack of proper inflections in his tone.

Signum however, did not seem to mind the monotone very much. Instead, she merely stared deep into his obsidian-black pupils, as though searching for a hint of falsehood with her new-found sense of calm. Finding not the slightest bit of deception, Signum hesitantly let the corners of her lips rise upwards in miniscule fashion, "I am Yagami Signum. Wolkenritter of the Belkan Empire, one of two superpowers on the continent of Al Hazard... thank you, Uchiha Itachi."

No more words were exchanged for the rest of the night, even when the doctor came to check on Signum and redress some of her wounds which had been reopened in her fit of insanity. But one would have had to be blind to miss out on the bond that the two strangers had forged so quickly in the single short duration in which they had met.

Elsewhere, in the council chambers of Konoha, the makings of a fierce storm began to brew, as Yamanaka Inoichi made his somber report on the war he had been witness to, and the possible implications of the Belkan Knight's presence.

Still, no one would know just how greatly Itachi's simple act of kindness in saving a stranger would impact the very future of the Elemental Nations. For no matter what the council or other rival nations did, they were soon going to be dragged in by the gears of war. There was no mistaking it; war was coming, with none of its glory, but all its horrors.

The ninjas would have to pick a side soon...

_So it begins..._

Stand By, Ready... GO!

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_From The Author: I hope you've enjoyed part one. Reviews will be acknowledged, and cursing will be allowed for as long as there is constructive criticism._

_On a brighter note... MERRY CHRISTMAS! and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!  
_


	2. Belka and MidChilda

_From The Author: Hello to you readers once more. This is part two of the three-part series: Stangers' Meeting._

_This was written with the aid of Martong once more and is relatively heavy on the more mature ideas. Therefore, the valued reader is asked to take an open view to the issues being discussed._

_Apart from that, onward with the story.  
_

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Belka and Mid-Childa**_

"There are a few notes of caution I need to inform you of before you enter the Council Chambers, Commander Signum." The man showed the merest sliver of hesitation for the briefest of moments, but it disappeared almost immediately as his training took over.

"First, the councilors are a proud and highly ranked group in the village. Even if they are not nearly as important to Belkan society, they are here, so do show them some level of respect." Yagami Signum, the Belkan commander nodded for her companion, Itachi, to continue.

The ANBU Captain took in another breath, and used the most severe tone he could muster to get his point across, "Next, most councilors are a suspicious lot, be they Ninja or Merchant. Konoha has been through many skirmishes like Belka, so their trust in foreigners is sorely limited, especially amongst the old Clans, which have suffered the brunt of the ninja wars."

At this, Signum's eyebrow rose slightly, "I'm afraid I do not see what the worry is Captain Itachi."

The Uchiha Prodigy let out a brittle laugh, "Your direct attitude might unsettle them further. By the Hokage's request, I would recommend you be more accommodating if that is possible... But truthfully, I know it is honesty and integrity that will catch the eyes of the more powerful. I... I would not recommend being too nice."

Itachi Uchiha had to bite back a curse at himself. _Why am I opening__ up this much towards Signum... I've barely even known her for more than a month!_ The young Ninja's confusion was hardly surprising, given that he indeed had met Yagami Signum only five weeks ago when she had mysteriously crash landed in the Elemental Nations.

The ANBU Captain nearly had a heart attack when Signum flashed him a gentle smile and a quiet thank you. The Belkan Knight was hardly the friendliest person to be around with, but she was considerably warmer towards Itachi than anyone else. In fact, people like Kakashi could swear that she had a vendetta against them... but that was because of the stuff they read.

It was a good thing Signum had no idea that the Third Hokage had a stash of 'Icha Icha Paradise' in his bottom drawer to the right. The fierce Wolkenritter would have torched the lot, and then gone on a holy crusade against the author of the book to protect women's dignity.

With that said, Itachi personally kept _his_ own copy under an A-ranked genjutsu in the best hiding spot of his room. That had been a gift from his then ANBU Captain (_cough... Kakashi... cough_), and honestly, the _underage_ boy _did_ like some parts of the book... just not enough to become a hard-core fan. He shuddered to think of how that wonderful and pure smile would instantly invert itself if she had known of his dirty little secret.

"Are you alright Captain Itachi?" Signum did not frown, but her smile definitely disappeared as her lips formed a thin line to show her concern, "You are not one to space out."

Itachi managed not to fumble over his words when he realized he had been staring dumbstruck at her. Out of the Wolkenritter's line of sight, but well within Itachi's, another ANBU- one of the Hokage's personal guard commanders judging from his or her pristine white cloak- motioned silently that the Council was now ready to receive the Belkan Knight. Itachi let out a mental sigh of relief at being spared a potentially awkward situation.

"It's time for you to go." Itachi schooled his features into the blank mask of professionalism

"Thank you for taking care of me till this point Itachi," Signum nodded curtly, "I won't forget your people's generosity when I leave."

As Signum turned to enter the Council chambers, Itachi wished her the best of luck in his mind. The council had a fair number of good members, but many were mercenary and worryingly open to corruption. _It is no longer a question of when you leave Signum... When the Council found out... It became an issue of _if_ you could leave._

Itachi was as good and virtuous as any other Ninja in Konoha could get. He knew that this foreigner, with no ties to the lands, and no obligations, should be allowed to return home. Alas, politics is never so simple, especially in a superpower like Konoha.

The Council meetings were known to churn out the fates of Ninja and Civilian alike, to the favor of a greedy, bureaucratic and above all else, cowardly majority of members comprised largely of snot-nosed businessmen who did not even known how to raise a knife with their flabby arms. Arranged and forced marriages were also common place.

The Hokages had all done their best to halt this sort of motions, but in recent years, the Hokage's Advisers had smelled blood; Sarutobi Hiruzen was ailing and losing influence. Thus, the three next most powerful figures of Konoha's political front had begun to throw their own lot with the wayward merchants in an effort to destabilize the Third's rule. All for the sake of claiming the top post for themselves, they would ruin anyone who could stand in their way.

Uzumaki Kushina, the secret mother to the village hero had been no exception. Nearly sold off as a mistress to an unwilling Hyuuga Hiashi to birth children, Kushina had been saved by the mere fact that the Fourth Hokage himself had directly proposed to her. Even so, her life had been filled with threats from the Advisers to follow their bidding.

Silently, Itachi prayed for the Belkan Knight's safety. Unlike his unofficial late godmother, Signum would have no one to save her if the Council decided to keep her as an 'asset' to Konoha.

If things turned out like that, Itachi instinctively knew that blood would be spilled, and another war that Konoha had no resources to commit to given their heavy involvement in the Third Great War, would consume their nation in the hellish fires of the Belkan Navy.

From what little Itachi had learned from Signum, Belkans prided themselves on their steadfast loyalty and their brutal efficiency in killing. Nothing was wasted, from posture to weapons. Clinical and Utilitarian in the extreme, Belkans rarely wasted time in useless taunts and never gave opponents a chance to recover.

First names were only given to equals outside of the Belkan nationalities, a point that Itachi realized quickly enough to stop himself from revealing it to anyone else whom Signum deemed 'unworthy' of anything other than her family name and a serious beat-down on a sparring mat.

Proof of their killing prowess hardly took effort to find. Signum had punched an ANBU into the dojo walls on the fourth week of her stay, when the doctors had finally deemed her fit enough for light and _unarmed_ exercises. To add insult to the ANBU Corps' pride, Signum had hospitalized two more ANBU in subsequent fights, and fought Itachi himself to a _standstill _in unarmed combat.

It was painful for the ANBU to think that she was merely a Wolkenritter Commander; the equivalent to run-of-the-mill Jounin in the Elemental Nations. They certainly were not too keen on meeting the twelve 'Knights of Rounds' whom Signum said could handle Wolkenritter platoons with just a smidgen of difficulty.

Inoichi's discovery of the Belkan Cradles was another clear indicator. No other nation in the known world had anything close to the Cradle's main cannon, which rendered conventional combat utterly useless. Even the Mid-Childan Arc'en'ciel, for all its destructive energy, never could scratch the surface of the Belkan's destructive capacity.

Mid-Childa was probably lucky that the Belkans had a very high level of tolerance and not yet decided to seriously counterattack. In that aspect, Itachi was always the most confused; For a people who were so very nationalistic, with the most lethal technology in the world, it would have been child's play to drive any invader away.

On that matter, Signum had merely chuckled minutely, and explained to him in clipped tones, Belka's long and bloodstained history. Not too many countries could lay claim to have survived over a millennium of all-out wars.

The Saint Kings' Wars it had been called, when the Belkan Civilization had been split between three massive Kingdoms. From the ashes of that war, the present day Belka had seen the deaths of hundreds of millions, and the arms race that had borne the empire's great weapons. But it had also indelibly scarred the Belkans, who had a severe aversion to war, even if they did have a decent standing army.

Going on a counteroffensive against Mid-Childa would mean annihilating the four hundred thousand troops that occupied their territory, and then another four hundred thousand reserve troops pouring in. That kind of massacre would inflame the Mid-Childan masses, spurring an even more bloody conflict that could possibly see the Belkans forced into murdering millions of people with each use of a Cradle Warship's assault.

Such acts would surely scar the lands as they once did centuries ago.

But given the rate of the Mid-Childan advance that Inoichi saw, even the most pacifist of Belkans -of whom Signum was certainly not- were hard pressed not to fly into a fit of murderous rage. Full scale combat would be inevitable unless one side backed down, which would never happen anytime soon.

Thus, there was another issue to ponder for Itachi; who exactly were the Mid-Childans and why had they committed themselves to a foolhardy war.

Much to his surprise, and that of the Hokage's, when he had reported his findings, Signum actually stated in no uncertain terms that the Mid-Childans were actually a relatively friendly bunch. If anyone in Belka really had to pick a person to blame for the war, it would be the Mid-Childan politicians, who were rumored to desire Belka's ore rich lands.

Itachi was given a further shock when Signum had mentioned that her family had hosted Mid-Childans in their humble abode scant months before the war, and that she had become close friends with a particular blond haired Mid-Childan, whose fate she never found out in the chaos of Mid-Childa's unprovoked attack.

A further inquiry into the matter to Inoichi later revealed that the girl mentioned was one Fate Testarossa Harlaown, the adopted daughter to Admiral Clyde Harlaown and Major Lindy Harlaown, apparently two of the most famous military figures in Mid-Childa.

Other Mid-Childan acquaintances included the child of a Mid-Childan Senator, who would have been in the running for the nation's presidency three years down the road, and promoted peace between the two superpowers. Takamachi Nanoha had been the child's name, and she had been born in the most unusual circumstances; with her Mid-Childan father and a Belkan Wolkenritter for a mother.

Sadly, the peace had not lasted when both the Senator and his wife had been assassinated by a professional, whose identity was never found, nearly nine years ago. By then, even with the barest of majority support from the general populace, the Senate and the parliament of Mid-Childa had declared Belka guilty of murdering their 'beloved' leader, and launched a full scale invasion.

Martial law had also been strictly enforced within hours of the Senate's announcement, silencing any form of dissent with the harshest of punishment; Death for 'treason' against the State. Even as the diseased government reared its ugly and falsely democratic head, countless of Senator Takamachi's followers were executed for arguing against the invasion.

Within five minutes of the Mid-Childan war machine's entry into Belkan territory, Signum's home town had been burnt to cinders. Over the next three hours, her parents were then brutally tortured and murdered in front of her own eyes. She nearly suffered the same fate, but some fast acting Belkan Knights had risked their own hides to save the citizens.

The shock and trauma she must have felt at the time was not something that could be quantified or even described. Inoichi had instinctively locked it away from the rest of the memories to save his own sanity. If a thirty year old man could hardly handle that kind of stress, imagine the effects on a five-year old. Mental scarring would sound like an understatement.

Worse still was the news that Takamachi Nanoha, who had been warded in the local clinic and receiving the Harlaown family had been hit by a stray Mid-Childan Warship round. Survivors could not be determined by the Belkan's since they had been forced to pull back in the face of the Mid-Childan's superior numbers.

Lust for vengeance and justice had then become the sole factor that drove the Yagami Family onwards. Through their days in the orphanage, to the time when they joined the Army at the minimum age of ten, Signum and her sisters proved to the Belkans their worth in the harshest of conditions, brutally steamrolling all who dared to break up what little they had left, Belkan or Mid-Childan alike.

Pity really was necessary for the invading Mid-Childans every time Signum and her Wolkeritter colleagues stepped onto a battlefield. After three encounters of Signum and her fellows fighting the invaders, most other battles would normally involve haphazardly fleeing opponents, whose only form of offense against the Belkans were the backs that they presented for target practice.

But even with the agony of having lost so much to Mid-Childa in the years of endless war, the Belkans had not simply answered the Mid-Childan's aggression in kind. Instead, the prisoners had been treated well, according to the Belkans ancient codes of conduct.

The same could not be said of the Mid-Childans though.

One week after she had arrived, Signum had decided to trade stories of the field with Itachi, who obtained instant approval from the Third Hokage.

If Itachi had known what he was going to learn, he never would have gone to the Hokage.

The Uchiha Prodigy was no stranger to gruesome treatment, having been responsible for a number of _incidences_ himself in the Third Great War. But few ninja would have the appalling gall to rape female captives _over and over_ till they could bear no more, before slowly torturing them to death. Males prisoners would have been treated more harshly, especially for information, but no ninja would _flay_ their captive's skin off and heal it up for days on end for _fun_ till their prisoners died from the shock and pain.

Only one phrase could describe the perpetrators: _"Savage and beastly animals"_

Anna Weinberg had been the name of one of Signum's many comrades to suffer such a fate at the hands of her Mid-Childan captors. Even when she had managed to escape from the concentration camps stationed all across occupied Belka, the trauma of having been violated so many times proved too much, and Anna, barely even fifteen, took her own life with her own sword.

Signum had expressed deep and heart-wrenching sorrow at her friend and senior's passing, and had fought all the harder to bring the _monsters_ responsible to justice. She had succeeded to a degree too, when she decapitated one particular Mid-Childan Captain who used to be in charge of the camp Anna had been kept in. It was a swift and relatively less painful death, and one that he seemed undeserving of, but justice had been dealt.

Knowledge of Signum's war torn past made Itachi understand her even more than he would have liked, although he was unaware of the fact that Signum was equally disturbed by the fact that she was so trusting with him.

Such was the bond that war veterans would inevitably share. It was not love Per Se, and would most likely never blossom into such a strong emotion, but war has its own strange way of etching an invisible mark onto those who survive it. Such a mark is what allows those who had fought recognize others like them; people who do not ever truly fit back into society no matter how normal they might seem, having borne witness to the parts of war that all governments, good or bad, would sweep quietly away into a cupboard full of skeletons.

It was this same mark that gave strength to the pair's trust.

But Itachi was still very dissatisfied with what he knew of Signum. For one, he had yet to convince her to show his colleagues and himself, her Laevantein, which marked her as one of the ancient Clan members of Belka. Signum had not revealed her Belkan Magic either, although she had obliged to teach a few Strike Arts moves for some generic Taijutsu styles.

Memories of the intense purple flames still burned brightly in Itachi's mind, when he had first met Signum, and his curiosity would simply not let him rest till he understood the Belkan Magic.

Bringing a reluctant end to that train of thought, Itachi glanced at the clock hanging on the wall adjacent to the Council chambers.

Goodness, Signum had only entered the room not two seconds ago, and he was already pining after- Itachi froze at that thought _Uchihas do _not_ pine after people... but..__. ehh! Yagami Signum... you confuse me!_

Concluding that a short retreat to one of the Hokage Tower's small training dojos would do his mind some good, Itachi turned to leave-

BLAM!

"HELP!"

"ARGHH! Guards! GUARDS!"

_What the!_ Itachi and the surrounding ANBU did not waste another second one wondering what the situation was about, but dived straight into the room, kunais out, and guards raised, fully prepared to die to protect Konoha's most important leaders.

The sight that greeted them however, was not something anyone would have expected.

Signum was sporting a vicious gash over her right brow that leaked enough blood to threaten her vision. Her hands, tightly grasped over the handle of the fearsome Laevantein sword, with her entire body swathed in the now familiar Belkan Armor, Yagami Signum was facing down four _Mid-Childan _Mages.

Correction. Signum was now handling three Mages, as one Mid-Childan, carrying a flimsy looking stave, tried to stab the knight, but strayed a shade to close. He had been hacked in half without a sliver of hesitation, and an instant later, had been turned into a raging, malicious purple colored pyre, before the poor fool even had a chance to scream.

"The enemy are the ones attacking Lady Signum!" The Hokage hollered, pushing aside the protective arm of his personal guard, and arming himself with a kunai of his own, "Restrain the enemy now!"

In silent acknowledgment of their master's command, Itachi and his fellow ANBU leaped straight for their identified opponents, two trailing ANBU bearing chakra absorbing steel wire.

_Crunch_

An ANBU was down and out on the ground before he even had time to react, as a pale, translucent dome appeared around the magic combatants, causing the ninja to slam head first into the unyielding shield. Scrambling slightly, the remaining ANBU screeched to a halt scant centimeters from the magical construct, or like Itachi, lithely reoriented themselves to spring off the shield and land lightly on the balls of their feet.

Judging from Signum's scowl, the Magic had certainly not been cast by herself. The Mid-Childans were specifically targeting her, and were bent on ensuring the ninja did not interfere.

One Anbu, wearing a Horse mask, roared out an Earth based attack that rebounded uselessly off the Mid-Childan defense. Another -a Snake masked fellow- used a potent Wind based drill that ended only in the ANBU receiving a bruised arm for her troubles.

To the ninja's horror, even the Hokage's own legendary Katon Karyuu Endan did little more than scorch the surrounding wood flooring.

Itachi's own fear and desperation was quickly mounting too, as he saw Signum falter under the combined assault of the three Mid-Childan Mages. On a normal day, Signum would most likely have wiped the floor with the Mid-Childans without even breaking a sweat, but her situation was far from the norm.

Signum might have had six nice and peaceful weeks to heal and regain her strength, but such severe wounds like the ones she had sustained were not so easy to be rid of. Weeks of training with Itachi had also put some minute amounts of strain on the still sore wounds.

Now, the exertions of all those training sessions were finally catching up, and Signum knew that she was in some serious trouble. She was forced back yet another step when a Mid-Childan magic strike caused an involuntary twinge of intense pain in her abdomen. _Not good_... Silently, she wondered if her body would be able to take the strain of using her more powerful spells, like the Bloody Dagger, or her Lavaentein's Snake Form.

Chiding herself mirthlessly, Signum parried a sword strike from another of her unknown Midchildan foes. She was not going to kid with herself. The Wolkenritter knew that such advanced magic forms were as likely to kill her as they would kill her opponents.

If there ever was one advantage a Mid-Childan Mage ever had over their Belkan counterpart, it would be in terms of the ease of performing their spells. Mid-Childan Magic was obviously less powerful, but it also meant less strain for the user, allowing Mages to use magic in quick succession without tiring too quickly, and even when grievously wounded.

Belkan Knights on the other hand, would be completely constrained to using Strike Arts or their Magic Weapons if they took too many hits. It was also partly the reason why the Belkan Knights were heavily equipped with Magic Armor.

Signum staggered to the left as her back hit the stinging Mid-Childan shield, visibly struggling to keep up with her enemies as her own body began to fail on her. _I refuse to die here!_ Signum thought savagely, searching every last nook and cranny of her body for some energy, _any_ extra packet of vitality to continue the fight.

The Mid-Childan swordsman finally made a mistake in his attack, swinging his enchanted weapon in a calculated arc that was meant to decapitate Signum, only to have the Knight duck down low. He only managed to cleave Signum's ribbon, and a few strands of pink hair off her head.

Encountering less than anticipated resistance, the Mid-Childan's swing rebounded off the shield in a high arc that left him distressingly open to a counter.

Signum did not waste any more time to thank her luck.

With a ferocious battle cry, Signum had split the man from his left hip to his right clavicle.

_That_ move in itself, unfortunately, also left _her_ open to attack, and judging from the look of absolute triumph on the final pair of attackers' faces, they knew it too. Readying their own weapons- one staff and one dagger- the Mid-Childan assassins roared a war cry of their own, and surged forward, determined to end Signum's life even if they had to punch a hole right through their dead comrade's falling halves.

_Ohh... SHIT!_ Itachi cursed, slapping on a pair of his most potent explosive tags onto the shield in a last ditch attempt to help Signum. The Knight winced as blood stung her eyes, and her guard was less than sufficient to fend off the oncoming assault.

No one really expected Itachi's desperate bid to work, but they did get a nasty shock when the window facing eastwards was blown inwards with sudden, and positively violent force.

Both Mid-Childan assassins only had enough time to swear at their own really bad luck, as two innocent looking bright yellow balls of lethal magic punched through the magical barrier in the same instant that Itachi's explosive tags actually managed to overload the defense spell.

Signum was far too professional to consider any assistance as one coming from a friend instantly. She also took note of the fact that the magical spell was known in Mid-Childan Military circles as the Variable Bullet; the most advanced form of lethal, long-ranged magic any Mid-Childan could muster.

It would be insulting to the memory of her dear friend Ingrid if Signum had not remembered the spell type that had killed her dear friend. Designed for piercing almost any form of defense, with the Belkan's formidable _Panzer __Schild_ being no exception, the Variable Bullet was essentially a dense core of magical energy coated in a 'buffer' layer of less dense magic that was shed to allow the true attack past the shields to its intended target.

But still, there was something awfully familiar about the magical aura in the attack.

Sadly in her would be assassins' cases, the shield had fallen with Itachi's attack, and the Variable bullets had far more power in them than intended.

Unlike Ingrid, who had fallen in almost serene grace with little indication of being wounded, the Mid-Childans' heads had quite simply _exploded_.

The occupants of the room had to duck as boiled brain fluid and blood splattered a crimson mess all over the room. More than one weak-willed councilor also contributed further to the damage by emptying their days worth of meals at the sight of the mutilated corpses.

_That was too convenient... for Itachi__'s attack to behead both attackers__._ Thought the Ninja present. Indeed, that would involve such a great level of coincidental good luck that there might as well be a higher chance of the Fourth Hokage rising from the dead.

Drawing herself to her full height, and pushing as hard as she could against the pain, Signum turned to face the hole in the Council Chambers, and spoke in a quiet and dangerous tone, "I am grateful for your assistance, but I trust you would find no fault in my lack of trust in you, Mid-Childan spy."

Soft crunches emanating from the man-made hole put the ninja on edge again. _Another enemy?_

"I would not blame you either Commander Yagami Signum, but I merely wish to talk." A cloaked figure stepped gingerly out into the light of the room, the person's large cowl hiding all identifiable features.

_A female? _Thought Signum. The voice certainly sounded feminine enough... but there was something that was familiar about this one woman that unsettled her more than a company of Mid-Childan Mages bearing down.

Then it clicked in her head.

The mystery lady spoke evenly and gently, "I need to tell you of my people's involvement he-" She was forced to somersault over Signum's flaming sword, and landed cat-like, on the balls of her feet. Magic chains instantly sprouted out of the ground, binding the furiously struggling Knight down to the ground.

Any attempt to assist the Belkan was also quickly quashed, as yet another shield flashed into existence around the two ladies.

"Can you at least hear me out?" The hooded woman's tone had a liberal hint of irritation.

Signum's response was filled with loathing and if looks could kill, the Mid-Childan would have died long ago, "What do I need to hear from a cowardly assassin!"

The lady huffed, "Hey! I do believe that I save your butt back there! Besides, I've never- oh... right... you were there when I had been given the order to shoot the Belkan general... For all it's worth; I hope you'll understand that it's nothing personal, and I had no intention of shooting the girl."

"Tell that to Ingrid in _hell_!" Signum snarled. A single magical chain snapped taut. "You would not even dare to face us fair and square-"

_SLAP_

Signum was not really prepared for that slap, and her right cheek stung painfully from the force of the blow.

"Do you think I _enjoyed _picking people off?" The woman's bright green eyes became visible as the glow of Signum's purple fires were reflected off her irises, "I could say I hate this war even more than you! I was the top melee combat Mage in the _Police_ Corps, but _noo..._ my Magic pool and the war effort needed me to be a _Sniper_. And justice? _What_ justice? All I ever saw in this heaven-forsaken war was atrocity after atrocity on my own side!"

Grabbing Signum by the front of her vest, the woman hefted the Knight up into a kneeling position, "Now listen carefully Yagami! I could care less if I had to fight a death match with you, but that is _after _you help me steer these countries off the warpath."

The Elemental nationals stiffened at that comment. "What the hell? Do you mean Konoha is going to face war?" Shouted one Councilor.

"This is madness! We should have left that Belkan to die! Now the Mid-Childans are coming!" Hissed Advisor Koharu.

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his arms in an attempt to silence the rapidly destabilizing situation, but the Mid-Childan solved that problem for him with a loud burst of magical energy.

"I'm afraid the nice Commander here ain't to blame." The lady jerked a thumb in Signum's direction, "I was sent here on authority from the Mid-Childan Military to spy on you Elementals to open the path for an invasion years ago. The Mid-Childan_ government_ has apparently decided it needs more resources if it's going to win against Belka."

It was hard to miss the derision in the lady's tone at the mention of the word 'government'.

"Oh, but before you morons get your panties and undies in knots, _my_ men have handled the other infiltrators already. We've even managed a splendid sob-worthy 'final' transmission to our commanders of our idiocy and laxity that led to our complete annihilation as we were caught in a fearsome three-way battle" The lady sounded nauseatingly pleased with herself.

Signum's eyes narrowed into slits, "So you are deserters... nothing's more cowardly than-"

"Hey! If anyone deserted anybody, the Mid-Childans abandoned us first! The men I'm working with have all lost their connections to that wretched place thanks to the internal cleansing acts!" The lady looked ready to slap Signum again, "And what did the people do about it huh? NOTHING! They just stood and watched as their brethren died, and supported a war for so long as _they_ don't lose anything as well."

"Mid-Childa is _diseased_. It is a dying nation that does not even deserve our loyalty anymore, so what's wrong with trying to find a new life?"

Signum found herself to have the strange inability to complete her sentences, as the Third Hokage this time, cut her off, "So you would seek asylum here in Konoha, stranger?"

The woman tilted her head to face the wizened old man, "Yeah... and we'd be willing to teach your people some stuff about our Magic, just in case those bastards send in another infiltration team.

Quietly, and in the background, Danzou, ever the scheming war hawk, weighed the benefits against the burdens. _On one hand, we must accept traitors... on the other, these people will help arm us for a future encounter with Mid-Childans... this assuming their sincerity, which is currently relatively convincing__. If__ the reports on Miss Yagami's accounts are__ accurate... that means..._

"I will support a notion to take these foreigners in Sarutobi." Called out Danzou, his voice as strong as it was decades ago.

Like trained parrots, Danzou's supporters, which took up sufficient of a majority if counted in with the Third's own supporters, scurried to voice their agreement as well.

The oldest Clans of Konoha, the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, took a while longer to consider the pros and cons, but eventually reached the same conclusion for once that with sufficient safeguards, the Mid-Childans would be a most useful addition to the ranks.

Especially if they ended up marrying into their families to produce strong Magic and Doujustu wielding children.

It was clear to all that Signum had little trust in the Mid-Childan woman, given her most vehement objections and protestations. But she was not a Council member, or the Hokage, and she knew that her views would not hold sway.

Five minutes. That was all it took for Konoha to welcome the Mid-Childan defectors in with only the need for an official signing of citizenship a few days away.

Just like that, Signum knew she had lost her case.

"You'll really care for these people won't you?" Signum half sighed, half whispered. Her deep sea green eyes boring into the depths of the lady's lighter, silver-green ones, "Swear to me! That you and your men... that you tell the truth!"

A councilor nearly called for the ANBU to restrain Signum, but a quick glare from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzou quickly shut him up.

With the glimmering shield still up, Itachi caught sight of the Mage pulling a small metallic stick that was bent almost perpendicular at a point to create a grip for her right hand. To his chagrin, he recognized it as a 'gun' from his time with Signum. Pulling out more explosive tags, Itachi called out his warning, "Sheath your weapon stranger."

Blithely ignoring Itachi's threat as though it were a mere draft of wind, the woman's figure began to glow its bright yellow as she summoned a razor sharp blade that emanated from the guns barrel.

Slowly. Deliberately, the woman brought the gun-knife tip first, up to her other hand, and swiftly cut a wound in her own palm, deep enough to let blood drip from her self-inflicted wound.

"I, Captain Artemis S. Hawkins solemnly swear on my own blood... and on behalf of my kinsmen; that we will fight to the death for the people of Konoha." The Mid-Childan Mage held out left palm to Signum as she let the shield and binds dissipate, "Will you accept this Oath of Blood? Commander Yagami Signum?"

A historic moment was in the making. The first pact of blood to be made between a Belkan and a Mid-Childan ever.

Signum maintained her stare for a long time, so much so that some civilians thought she had fainted. Itachi knew better though, for Signum had told him of her purpose in staring so intensely.

"_Some Belkans have a skill, which is to be able to pick off lies from truths... and we do so by looking into the eyes of those we converse with. It is the window to the soul and _none_ can hide their in__tent there."_

Itachi had privately sought to hide his liberal dose of respect and half awe that he had for the Belkan, although he suspected that Signum already knew, given the manner in which she had become just so slightly more candid around him, in private moments.

Signum cracked a smile that spoke volumes of the sense of irony she felt, "Oaths of Blood are only sworn between Belkans, Captain Hawkins."

The mirth and mischievousness was leaking out of Artemis' figure in waves, "Well, I was just sure that you'd like one... It's binding after all."

For a moment, Itachi and the surrounding Elemental Nation dwellers were stunned at a rather foreign sound that was a cross between a wind-chime and a gruff growl. A strange combination.

Itachi found the culprit first; Signum.

The Belkan Knight was laughing quietly, and for a split-second, she looked nothing like a blood-stained war veteran. She looked like a child again.

"I, Commander Yagami Signum of the Belkan Wolkenritter, do hear your Oath, and testify to its truth." Signum, rose painfully of the ground, her face schooling into one of a soldier. But a slight tilt of the lips upwards was still very much visible.

"On a personal note... Thank you Captain." Signum took cupped Artemis' left hand gently and began to pour a trickle of healing Magic into the wound, "For showing me that the Mid-Childan people might still one day have hope... even if your nation has fallen into shadow."

Reaching out with her right hand, Signum clasped Artemis' right shoulder and squeezed slightly, "Also... I know that you truly regret my friend's death from the bottom of your heart... and I know she will be grateful... as will I... May you one day find your Peace, Captain Artemis."

Artemis froze for a second, and then, roared with childish laughter that was tinged with a palpable feeling of relief. The relief of one whom had found forgiveness, "Goodness... what is our world coming to? That's a Mid-Childan blessing!"

On a quiet and seemingly normal summer day in Konoha, if one were to strain their ears ever so slightly, they would have heard the soft twinkling laughter of two bitter enemies forging new ties and surging ahead into the unknown.

Even if a thousand miles away, their two nations were waging bloody war upon one another, a Belkan Knight, and a Mid-Childan Mage had found their peace.

And with that peace, something was borne of the ashes...

Hope.

* * *

_From the Author: I hope you've enjoyed this installment of Strangers' Meeting. To all politically affiliated groups, please do not take offense to any depiction of politics in this fiction-piece, it is after all, fiction._

_Other than that, I hope to hear your views on this chapter._

_With that, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!_

_Signed, LoneTraveller  
_


	3. Their Separation

_From the Author: Well, it's been a blast writing this... and the first time I've ever received so many favorites and hits in a story without a single review. Really weird. In any case, I do hope that you have enjoyed the Stranger's Meeting and will finally review to tell me what you all think of the story._

_Reviews are a necessity at this point, since I have decided to do an overhaul to my writing style. I will not write long stories anymore, since I rarely have the time to do it. Instead, I am specializing into three-shot short novels, so the content needs to be direct and good... hence the need for heavy reviewer-ship._

_But that is enough of the overbearing attitudes from me for the time-being... here's the final chapter of the Stranger's Meeting._

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_**Their Separation**_

Something seemed terribly off that day. There was no explaining it; the Sun was at its most splendid in the summer and the flora were in full bloom, blessing the Earth with a multitude of colors. But even if everyone else, the Konoha civilians and most other ninjas were enjoying the peace, Uchiha Itachi simply could not rid himself of the deep sense of dread that continued to build in his chest.

Privately, his mother, Uchiha Mikoto had offered the explanation that he had gotten very attached to Signum and simply felt the pain of losing such a close companion so soon. At her son's look of incredulity, Mikoto had chuckled merrily, and also mentioned that she would miss the Belkan Knight; it was nice to have the extra pair of hands for the house chores.

Yagami Signum had proven to be most skilled not merely in fighting, but in housekeeping and cooking.

Uchiha Fugaku had been rather hostile towards Signum because she outright refused to consider dating some Uchiha Clan members, a point to which one Uchiha Shisui quickly pointed out that the only suitable candidate for the Knight was Itachi and that both parties were frankly, not interested in deepening their relationship.

Over the past week as Signum, working in tandem with the Mid-Childan refugees, plotted out a course for her homeland of Belka, to which their leader, Artemis, had promised to assist by providing some of the magical energy needed to send Signum on her way.

The two opposing sides also proved to be a potent combination when they had stopped to pull their resources together. With the Belkan knowledge pertaining to magic amplification, and the Mid-Childan affinity for long distance accuracy and orienteering, the work, which might have taken each individual party months to calculate, had been finished in the short time-span of three days.

And just like that, Yagami Signum was going to leave for her battlefield once more. She was going to leave today.

Suddenly, Uchiha Itachi felt a pang of worry. What if he never saw her again? If she died in her war, alone and terribly. Itachi began to wonder; was there truth in his mother's word?

It certainly felt like it. After a mere time span of a little over two months, one foreigner had so easily slipped past all of his emotional barriers and wormed her way into his heart, taking a spot as one of the few whom he cherished dearly.

"It is not like you to space out, Itachi" Came a light, clearly feminine voice that was at the same time, very stern, "You'll die at this rate."

Itachi bit back a curse and ducked as Signum's flaming sword, the Laevantein, shaved off a sizable lock of his hair. His fan girls probably were probably going to be pleased at the prospect of getting that bunch of hair, and angry at Signum for 'disfiguring' their idol.

The young ANBU Captain had very nearly forgotten that he was having a final duel with the Belkan Knight at his own request, before she left. He half wished he could kick himself in the ass. Signum was one of the elite in Belka and giving less than full attention was the fastest way to commit suicide.

_Swish_- _CLANG!_

Signum took a minute step back at Itachi's forceful counter- a Kunai reinforced with a liberal amount of Chakra to stop it from breaking.

No holds barred and no quarter. _That was what I requested..._ Itachi had another impulse to smack himself. He was far too distracted to actually fight to his fullest capacity, not when the subject in question was the person he was fighting.

But again, the bond that they shared proved its strength once again. It was as though both party's could read each other like a book.

The Belkan Knight eased up in her strikes, shocking Itachi and the surrounding spectators greatly, especially the Midchildans. It would practically have been the first time they ever saw a Belkan showing some compassion in a battle.

"_Panzer __Hindernis_"

More than one Ninja reared back in surprise and a small amount of apprehension when a crystal lattice version of the Mid-Childan Area Barrier solidified right before their very eyes.

Snorting in amusement, Captain Artemis of the Mid-Childan Refugees- who still insisted on remaining faceless with her hood- waved a hand in a dismissive manner at the tense ninja, "The Belkan just wants a private moment with her _boyfriend_. Besides, there's no point in trying to break the Tank Barrier anyway. It can stop most armor piercing magic rounds and is completely impervious to all but the strongest telepathic communications abilities."

Inside the gleaming magical construct, Itachi's eyes were honed on his counterpart's lighter colored ones. _What is so important for me to hear in private?_ He wondered, half afraid even, that he was about to hear a confession which he knew he deeply desired deep in his heart and had half a mind to admit to on his own.

"I know you have been given a terrible order Itachi." Signum spoke in a shockingly gentle and- was that melancholic?- tone.

_That_ was something Itachi had most certainly expected, and the chagrin was written as clear as day all over his features, "How-"

Signum laughed softly, calming the distressed Ninja if only by a tiny fraction, "We are alike in many ways; we have both been forced into the thickest of battles at very young ages... we've lost many companions... but there is a darkness in you that even I cannot fathom... even with... our _bond_"

Itachi knew very well what Signum meant. They were like kindred spirits in a perverse sense, and he was indeed suffering greatly for his village by betraying his family's trust. But his loyalties could not let him falter, not after he had come so far. "So what of it?" Itachi's eyes hardened instantly, even though his posture remained lax. He knew instinctively that he would not have the guts to kill her.

Slowly. Deliberately. The Belkan Knight reached down the front of her robes.

Outside the glittering shield, the bystanders were cursing; they could not see what either party was talking about, as the magical construct distorted their lip movements. But no one could ever miss the Belkan's body movements.

"Oh... is it a Belkan wedding band she's gonna give the tyke?" Artemis drawled, ever the teaser.

Uchiha Fugaku, who was standing within earshot held in a vociferous retort, but silently kept hope. If the Belkan entered the fold of the Uchiha, they would become the undeniable power of Konoha.

Itachi reined in his screaming instinct to jump away as Signum's hand began a slow and purposeful withdrawal from her own vest. The Knight pressed forward towards him, her eyes focused solely on his own.

From Signum's vest, a gleaming piece of metal, dangling of a fine gold chain, was produced. The metal, triangular in its shape and bearing the hallmark symbols of Belkan magic runes, bore a single, tiny pink gem in its core.

The soft aura that the jewel seemed to radiate was mesmerizing. Itachi could almost feel all of his worries evaporate.

A calloused hand grasped his left and guided it towards the gem, startling Itachi out of his daze. With a jolt, he realized that Signum was now standing right in front of him, and was holding out the pendant to him.

"No, I can't take that." Itachi blurted, trying to pull his own hand back.

Signum tightened her grip, and spoke so quietly, it sounded like a draft, "I know you need this more than I. Take it."

Dumbly, Itachi allowed the Belkan Knight to place the pendant in his left hand. Clutching it reverently, Itachi voiced out his burning question, "What is this?"

"My mother's pendant." Signum's small smile wavered a bit, "The crystal was constructed magically, and is supposed to be lucky."

Itachi's arm came up again in protest to having received such a gift, but Signum stopped him once more by closing his fingers round the jewelery piece. "Shouldn't you keep this? For a safe trip home?" Itachi questioned, although at the back of his mind, the other question he wanted to ask was _So it can guide you here again with luck_.

"The transport routes between our continents are already known now. Luck has no place in this issue any longer..." Signum's head drooped for a moment.

Itachi wondered if her was dreaming but was that a blush on her face?

One moment, Signum had her head bowed in front of him, the next, she was in his face, those deep sea green eyes at their closest to his own since they had met. "Besides, you truly need more luck than me."

Itachi's breath caught in his throat, at this range, he could distinctly smell the different scents of foreign flora that lingered on her person even after being away from her home country for two months. The freshness and light qualities of the smells making him slightly light headed, Itachi finally let his mental barriers down for a moment, "Be well."

The Ninja enjoyed seeing that he had been able to turn the tables on the woman, as surprise flitted across her features. "I will, if you will too, Itachi." Signum's expression became more somber, "And if I could have a say in this... I beg of you to spare your mother and brother from this battle in your heart."

With a small sigh, Itachi had to respect the level of intuition that Signum had, and replied softly, his lips brazenly moving forward to brush hers in a feather-like kiss, "You always were a sharp one... you have my word... I'd never forgive myself if they came to any harm."

Taking a small step back and showing an even more pronounced blush, Signum muttered in a manner most unlike herself, "Thank you."

Waving her hand, the gleaming Belkan Tank Barrier slowly dissipated.

Before anyone outside the shield could properly hear the inside conversations though, Itachi had one final word with Signum, "I should be thanking you Signum."

"Well, do we get invitations to the wedding? Who's Best man? Can I be the bridesmaid?" Artemis swept past the shiny remnants of the shield, "But take my advice you two... a good romance ain't just about one kiss... HECK! You can't even call that a kiss! You two need kids!"

It really was a pity that no one had a camera to record the incident. The historical records printed by the Konoha Archives were rather uninformative.

The flaming blush on both Itachi's and Signum's faces would have been quite a sight for any person who knew them but were not present at this particular... _incident_.

"HEY WATCH IT!" Artemis had to duck as Signum, in absolutely uncharacteristic anger, tried to slap her with the broad side of Laevantein, "I was only _joking_! Cool it!"

The Mid-Childan Captain heaved a sigh of relief, and glared at her guffawing subordinates as Signum's swing came to a stop just a millimeter shy of her face, _Goodness knows... my husband would have a heart attack if he found out I got injured for a prank._

"May I inquire as to what you and Miss Yagami were speaking of inside that... construct, Itachi" Uchiha Fugaku spoke in a commanding tone, that left no room for debate as to what his intent was. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

Itachi squared his shoulders and exhaled a small breath. He needed to focus, and think of a suitable excuse to throw his father off. _But what could I say-_ And Itachi had an answer, but he was praying with all his might that Signum would not try to do the same to him as she tried with Artemis.

"It was merely a kiss, father." Itachi droned as blandly as he could, trying his best not to sound excited or nervous at all, "Signum has promised to try and visit again in the foreseeable future."

Artemis gave a small yelp of surprise rather than pain as Signum's sword arm jerked spasmodically for an instant and the blunt face of Laevantein swatted at her face twice.

Danzo could not have picked a worse moment to barge in on the conversation, "I see no reason for the Knight to have to express her emotions to you from within a magical construct. Please elaborate Itachi."

To the old war hawk's left, the Hokage and his personal guards remained silent, watching the proceedings with keen interest. It would be rather beneficial to future Kohona-Belkan relations if they knew some Belkan relationship rituals or etiquette rules.

Itachi was close to sweating. His mind was fogged by his recent conversation with Yagami Signum and he had struggled a great deal to come up with the previous excuse. He was not willing to let them- anyone other than the Hokage- from knowing that he now possessed a magic artifact. If Danzo or his father caught wind of that, they would hound him to no end.

"I have given him a traditional Belkan Seal." Signum mumbled, her face growing redder than anyone could have imagined, "It is a symbol of trust and friendship. Uchiha Itachi has proven his strength and integrity, hence he will be treated as one of our kinsmen. An equal."

Artemis had to let out a sharp whistle, "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Turning to face Itachi, the Mid-Childan Captain spoke seriously, "You're gonna have to take good care of that Seal kid. Those things are valuable. Most ain't magical, but the money the Seal's are worth loads... heck! Those trinkets could buy entire mountains!"

"As the Captain has said." Signum swiveled around her spot, returning the Laevantein to its sealed form as she did so, "This Seal is one of my family's, and holds great prestige and value even amongst Belkans. Do not attempt to take this from him."

One stupid council member present had to shoot back a retort, "And what if we don't?"

The warm summer air temperatures plummeted so fast, some ninja were surprised that the forests did not freeze instantaneously. Signum directed a fierce glare at the foolish councilman; one not unlike the stare she had treated Itachi to when she first had a conversation with him.

"Then you would be striking out at a fellow Belkan, and a fair number of us would be more than willing to come to his aid." Signum's eyes narrowed into sea-green slits.

No further questions were asked.

From his relatively ignored position, the Hokage finally coughed lightly to catch the small crowd's attention. "I will remind all citizens of Konoha that I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the Hokage, am the only person who can speak for the village. For now, I would like for all of you to remain silent."

Checking for a moment to ensure his orders were being obeyed, Sarutobi Hiruzen began his own little speech, "Yagami Signum of the Belkan Empire, I understand that this has been a rather eventful stay for you, albeit a rather relaxed one."

The Mid-Childan refugees snickered in the background, but were silenced by their commander's glare.

"We also know of your nation's plight, and I wish for you to convey my condolences to your King; not merely because of your losses, but because we are unable to help in terms of military might." The Third Hokage paused to take a puff from his pipe, "And as for you, the people of Konoha pray for your safe passage home, and for safety on the battlefield.

A faint shimmering Mid-Childan magic circle began to weave a pattern in the grass patch behind the Belkan Commander.

"Well, we've finished the last touches of the transport runes." Artemis nodded to the quartet of Mid-Childan mages who had set up the spell, "It's time to go."

"Farewell Yagami Signum." The Third Hokage would have liked to let out a melancholic smile; he had rather enjoyed the young lady's presence. His position as a fearsome and respected leader however, only allowed him to give the simplest and most solemn of nods.

Signum nodded cordially in return, her earlier embarrassment completely forgotten, "I bid you all farewell as well. May we meet in better circumstances in the future."

Turning stiffly and militarily, Signum made her way towards the glimmering Mid-Childan rune.

Itachi's heart leaped into his throat and he was instantly filled with anxiety and indecision. Despite Signum's assurances, he knew that she could very well die in her bloody war. It was then that the black haired ANBU Captain could no longer deny himself the truth, as he saw his first ever interest- since he still did not want to label her as a love interest- take her last steps towards the thing that would whisk her away.

Without thinking. Without having to bother with calculations or consideration for recriminations, Itachi hurled himself at Signum, and grabbed her right arm.

Even as a thoroughly shocked Signum turned around and an equally spell-bound crowd watched with more than a few mouths agape for the world to see, Itachi used his remaining free hand to expertly trap the Knight into a hug.

And then, his kissed her.

It was nothing like the close shave they shared in the Tank Barrier. This kiss was heated. It was passionate, but innocent. One possibly final intimate moment between two warriors who finally acknowledged that they had a bond that stretched beyond a mere psychological connection. They both also understood that if they let go of this one chance, they might never see one again.

"Damn... I wish I'd brought my bleeping camera in from Mid-Childa!" Artemis cursed loudly, "This is like _the_ BEST GOSSIP MATERIAL EVER!"

Neither the ANBU Captain nor the Belkan Commander paid heed to the raving Mid-Childan Captain as they broke apart after five seconds. Signum's breath was coming out in ragged gasps, her hands, visibly trembling and grasping so tightly onto Itachi's arms that he nearly lost blood circulation.

_The pot calling the kettle black_ Itachi chided himself, taking note of his own trembling right arm and his barely suppressed state of hyperventilation. He had never expected himself to be capable of such an action. Hazily, he realized that his father would be having words with him later.

"I don't want to lose you, Itachi" Signum murmured, tiny droplets of tears forming slowly in her tear-ducts, "Please stay safe!"

Hesitantly, Itachi raised his left hand- the one wrapped around Signum's waist- and laid it on her miraculously soft and silken pink hair, "I swear on my life to live, but you need to promise me the same."

Signum choked slightly through the tears and the laughter, "That's a rather worthless oath... I can't even kill you if you fail... I promise to stay alive... no matter the difficulty, no matter how bleak the day... I will live."

Itachi let out a smile, his hand stroking her hair absent-mindedly, "Then I'll promise the same as you... Aishiteru, Signum."

Signum frowned slightly in puzzlement, her head shifting slightly backwards to look Itachi straight in the eye, "What does that mean?"

"That's a secret... an added incentive for you to live." Itachi broke the hug and took the smallest of steps back, "You can only find out when you return."

Chuckling slightly, and hastily wiping away the tears, Signum replied, "Ich liebe dich. That's the phrase you will learn when I return."

Artemis made a noise of confusion, "Huh? But I can tell him what that means right now!"

The nasty glare sent by the Ninja and the Knight were more than enough to get Artemis to reconsider, "Er... then again... you two need more incentives to survive to get together... so yeah... I'll keep my mouth shut."

"No matter how long it takes... I'll return" Signum whispered, bringing Itachi's left ear to her mouth, "Wait for me."

As the trembling ceased, Signum relinquished her grip on Itachi and resumed her march into the Mid-Childan Transport Rune. Numbly, Itachi gave his own reply, his arms dropping limply to his sides, "I will."

Reaching the center of the rune, Signum turned back to face Itachi with the brightest and most innocent smile he had ever seen from her to date. The runes began to spin and glow with an intensity that crept ever closer to blinding.

"Don't forget to set up a shield as you land!" Our transport spell isn't accurate enough!" Artemis hollered to Signum, an arm raised to shield her hidden eyes, "You could be dropped into a battlefield!"

Itachi was not sure if Signum heard or acknowledged Artemis' advice, but in the coming days, he would always remember her radiant smile... and the promise they made to meet once more.

There was a brilliant and warm flash of light, and when the glow of the magic died down, Yagami Signum, Wolkenritter Commander of the Belkan Empire and valued companion of Uchiha Itachi had disappeared.

"Well, it's been fun..." Artemis turned on her heels and started making her way towards the exits of Konoha, "Don't forget to take good care of this place men."

"Huh? W-wait!" Shouted Councilwoman Homura, "Aren't you supposed to stay?"

Artemis threw a lackadaisical wave with her right hand to signal a goodbye, "I will, you just won't know I'm there..."

The Mid-Childan Captain paused for a moment, "I've been living on this continent years before most infiltration teams ever came in. I took a number of jobs for my old country and left sometimes, but I've been here alright... I've been here."

"Then you should at least reveal your identity to the ninja corps to prevent any misunderstandings." Danzou cut in sharply.

The sharp and cutting laughter that came from Artemis grated on more than one persons' ears, "Sure, I'll tell the Hokage, but I ain't gonna tell anyone else. Besides, your men won't even be able to land one hit on me if they accidentally identified me as an enemy!"

"Why you!" One Pig-masked ANBU obviously took great offense to that statement and tried to charge the Mid-Childan Captain. His fist only encountered space as Artemis faded from view in a transport rune, laughing mockingly all the way.

Thus, with such a simple and mundane act of magic, the strangers' meeting was brought to a close...

_An Ending of Sorts_

Weeks later, in the sweltering peak of the summer, Uchiha Itachi was finally given the order to commit the one act he dreaded the most; murdering his family for attempting a coup. True to his word to Signum though, he had spared his mother, Uchiha Mikoto and his brother, Uchiha Sasuke from the cold grasp of Death. Itachi's reputation was shredded on that fateful night and he was forced to take up a newer, even more painful mask.

Uchiha Itachi, by order of Sarutobi Hiruzen and under the guidance of Jiraiya of Konoha's Legendary Three Ninja, took up the mantle of being an Akatsuki member. An internationally wanted criminal and associate to a madman named Uchiha Madara who lusted for world domination.

But in the following years, as Itachi's new persona gained more recognition, one aspect of him was always unmistakable; the glittering Belkan Pendant that he always wore zealously around his neck.

As for Yagami Signum, she landed safely enough back in the outskirts of a Belkan regional capital known as Festung. Captain Artemis' words also had proven helpful, as Signum had been fired upon by trigger happy Belkan guards who had mistaken her for a Mid-Childan sneak attack.

Welcomed back into the nation with great pomp and circumstance, Signum soon realized she had left a relative utopia in the Elemental Nations for a seemingly inescapable hell in Al-Hazard.

The King and Queen had been mysteriously assassinated, although the magic signatures left on the corpses were unmistakably Mid-Childan. At that point in time- three weeks before Signum's return- the Royal Council and the people of Belka finally lost all patience or will to exercise restraint. All out war had been declared. Every Combat Cyborg, Cradle Warship and Wolkenritter had been deployed to the front lines.

Signum tried to protest, but without a mandate from the people, she lost her case. The Wolkenritter Commander was given a new platoon of colleagues and orders to retake Schienen-Stadt, a fortress-city a hundred kilometers shy of the Belkan border and crucial to the Belkan Army's efforts to retake their nation.

Fulfilling her oath to her lords- albeit grudgingly- Signum and her tiny force of twenty-four crack troopers took the city in a day, when the entire Belkan war machine had been stalled for a week by Mid-Childan mage platoons from the elite Harlaown Division. The Wolkenritter was celebrated and further promoted to the rank of Wolkenritter Second-In-Command, following her predecessor's downfall at the hands of Admiral Gil Graham's 48th fleet; yet another of Mid-Childa's 'legendary and elite units'.

But Signum knew better: That her rapid rise, though merited through her skill and cunning, was meant to shackle her to the whims of the Royal Court that had become the De-Facto leaders of Belka. Her siblings too had not been spared, serving as mere insurance to keep Signum in line.

Yagami Hayate was later made the new Crown Princess of Belka, and the one who would become Queen, after she had been chosen as the next master of the Book of Darkness that had been kept by the previous Queen. Signum could only watch in silence and sorrow as the Nobility slowly forced Hayate to follow their whims. Signum knew; her nation was fast turning into the very entity that they had tried to destroy.

Yagami Vita and Shamal were also promoted into the ranks of the Wolkenritter, and placed directly in the platoons assigned to missions handed out solely by the Nobility. Signum's hands were effectively tied and shackled behind her back.

Signum knew that she would not win in a head on fight with the bureaucracy. Rebellion was the least effective solution after all. Hence, Signum was forced to be content with doing her best to influence her men into starting to take prisoners-of-war instead of simply murdering unarmed Mid-Childans who had surrendered.

The following years, would be long and harsh, that much was certain to Signum. But every time she leaped into the battlefield with her trademarked Laevantein awash with purple fire, the conspicuous lack of weight around her neck continued to remind her of her short, unforgettable time in the Elemental Nations...

Out in the wilderness, swathed in a cloak embossed with red clouds, Uchiha Itachi looked out in the direction of Al-Hazard from his perch in the trees. _I once met a dying soldier of a foreign land... a warrior as lost as I was..._ Itachi's lips curled upwards, eliciting a puzzled grunt from his partner.

Looking out into the Mid-Childan border with an army of men behind her, Yagami Signum craned her neck around to look back on the Elemental Nations across the ocean, _But I found a connection in that __person...even though we were strangers... _Signum's own lips tugged upwards. She could just feel it in her bones that Itachi was mirroring her thoughts, and that thought seemed to give her added strength.

Pausing to stare into the distance but for a fraction of a second, both turned their heads back towards their respective goals and moved forward towards their new destinies, _Ah... we were strangers then... but we parted as comrades, friends, lovers..._

_Wait for me..._

_Fin._

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_From the Author: To those who love this story... it is going to turn into an arc based series of one, two or three-shots. _

_Next up; A Traitor's Loyalty ( a.k.a. Itachi's Trials)/ A Knight's Dishonor (a.k.a. Signum's Trials) _

In any case... have a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!


End file.
